CAPTURING FC UNION BERLIN

The good folk at FC Union Berlin fansite unveu.de certainly know how to take a picture. They've sent along some truly wonderful snaps that really capture the spirit of one of Germany's most colourful sides.

The club is widely recognized as one of Germany's nonconformist "Kult" clubs, based on their very emotional rivalry with Dynamo Berlin from pre unification days. While Dynamo was affiliated with East Germany's Secret Service Stasi, Union Berlin was patronized by Eastern German Trade Union FDGB.

In August 2009, Union Berlin severed a sponsorship deal with International Sport Promotion because it was revealed that the company's chairman, Jürgen Czilinsky, was a former Stasi agent.